Since 1991 our Welsh Wizard has lit up football pitches the world over, we have seen some majestic moments from Giggsy but has the time come for this living legend of football to step to the side. I am not suggesting he retires right now but its sad to see such a player struggle with the pace of the game these days. I believe he is still capable of a great game here and there but at United we cant wait for those to happen as inbetween hes just not good enough. I will always remember the good but theres younger fans who didnt see Giggs at his peak and they will remember the Giggs who misplaces passes, gets out paced and makes poor choices far to often in games. That would be a shame, it really would. This isnt a thread to have a dig at Giggs nor is it about anything but his football career. Feel free to post your greatest Giggs moments. please log in to view this image
[video=youtube;46iqRSBiI5s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46iqRSBiI5s&feature=fvwrel[/video] No thread about Giggs is complete without this. Sorry about the quality. If someone finds a better one PM me and I will change it.
I think you chose the wrong player. Scholes should have stayed retired, Ferguson might have replaced him then. As it stands he's first choice CM and we're not good enough. Giggs gets the odd game here and there but has already been adequately replaced, I can't see how he's anything but a plus to have around.
I think Scholes has something left to offer on the pitch. I agree about having Giggs around and I chose my words quite carefully. By step aside I mean no more starting big games or games against speedy sides where he just cant keep up anymore. Scholes is benefiting from having some decent performances just now. Both are legends but they are not beyond criticism and its the team that matters more than anything. I agree hes great to have around though, what a player to aspire to for the young players.
This I'm happy having scholes around but it says it all about the state of our midfield that we still rely on him.. He does still show glimmers of greatness, but while he is still there we have the urge to play him and for the most part he isn't good enough.. Christ we were having debates about his legs being gone 4 seasons ago on the old BBC site..
Don't think he should retire but should take a step back and only start on the subs bench in these big games. Believe he still has a part to play in the team.
Let's be honest, until you do find a replacement you cannot afford for him to step aside or even get an injury
You might have plenty of replacements but in midfield they are not very good - not having a go just being honest. So, as Ruffian said you're targeting the wrong player.
Scholes and Giggs both have something to offer, but "something" is the operative word. They can both give us experience and vital skill in certain games, and any club in the world would happily have either of them on the bench for any game, but we can't rely on either of them starting for a whole season. Personally I don't think it's a case of either of them "stepping aside". It's a case of SAF persisting in playing them in big games and consecutive games, even when players like Cleverley and even Anderson have been playing pretty well. It's like he's perfectly happy to play young strikers, wingers, defenders and even goalkeepers, but just doesn't want to give young CMs any sort of run in the team. It's also an unfortunate side effect of SAF's loyalty to players he has had for a long time and / or brought through from a young age - on the one hand it helps us hold onto players like Phil Neville, Butt, Evans, Brown, O'Shea and Fletcher and turn them into good players when other managers would have ditched them for an expensive and probably less successful import, but on the other hand it sees us relying on players like Giggs, Scholes and Ferdinand for longer than we should cos SAF still rates them highly and seems relatively blind to their shortcomings.
I think the biggest problem is starting Giggs and Scholes in the same team, with both of them on the field the energy level drops alarmingly. They both still have enough to offer ( Scoles moreso than Giggs) to justify their place in the squad but need to be used in a very selective way.
The beat footballer to ever play in the Prem, full stop. Still a sublime passer and crosser. Would he go to another team if United released him, or is that that
I had this discussion with a mate of mine (a Spurs fan unfortunately, he wasn't gloating too much though). SAF hasn't been afraid to cut loose a few of the older players over the years when they weren't going to play regularly enough (plenty of examples but recently it's been Brown, O'Shea, Park). The distinction for me has been that the players he's kept even though they were older than the listed players above are all massive influences in the dressing room (Giggs, Scholes, Ferdinand and Owen). I may be wrong but I think that due to our large number of talented youngsters, SAF really values the impact these players have on the youngsters. Michael Owen is a prime example, he was never going to be anything more than 3rd or 4th choice, but I bet our young strikers learnt a lot from him. I agree that starting Giggs and Scholes in central midfield against such a powerful and pacy Spurs team was a bad decision in hindsight, but imo that's the manager's call that didn't turn out well. Having experienced British players that are a huge influence on our youngsters is a huge asset to have, it's up to the manager to rotate them efficiently, injuries permitting of course. (Rio got destroyed yesterday but we had no other options, so no complaints there).
I sort of agree with you there, there is no reason we should still be relying on Scholes in the midfield. We've all know that we desperately need to rebuild our midfield, but Fergie has resorted to bring Scholes back instead. With that being said, Scholes brings a whole lot more to the team now than Giggs does. Giggs should only be used as a sub or in cup games. In fairness that's what he mostly gets nowadays, but I'd rather see a young promising player start in cup games over him.
Giggs should be a backup at most these days, the main problem is when he plays in the center of the midfield, he just isn't good enough defensively to play that position and leaves us wide open through the middle constantly. Scholes on the other hand still has the passing ability and vision, he also understands where he should be in the middle of the midfield much better than Giggs which helps a lot when defending but his legs obviously aren't what they used to be and that can cause a few problems, he should only be used in a midfield three with two workhorses around him (Fletcher and Anderson probably) or off the bench against teams playing ultra defensively, and those two should never be played in the same lineup anymore, the team loses far too much natural fitness and pressing ability when both of them are on the field at the same time.
I reckon Giggs should not be starting especially in the big games but be saved as an impact sub instead to give the likes of Cleverley and Anderson more of a chance in these games.
